another reason *not* to buy a front loading washer

What's a color catcher?

It's a sheet you can put in the washing machine that is supposed to attract any excess dye given off by new clothes so it will not deposit on the other items being washed.

"Color Catcher sheets are dye-trapping cloths that you throw in with a load of laundry to absorb and trap the loose dyes that can stain your clothes. The sheets allow you to mix more colors in a single laundry load while helping to whiten your whites and keep other colors vivid.

"The sheets themselves measure just over 7 inches by just under 7 inches and are a bit thicker than your average dryer sheet. They have a pleasant scent as well. Out of the box they are white, but after you do a load of laundry they soak up the dye so mine usually end up pink or a dingy blue-gray (depending upon the colors of the clothes I washed)."

on 5/19/2009 10:20 AM (ET) Jim Elbrecht wrote the following:

Why can't they have something as simple and as accessible as a screen to catch the coins, etc., similar to the dryer lint screen?

It's a sheet you can put in the washing machine that is supposed to attract any excess dye given off by new clothes so it will not deposit on the other items being washed. =================

That's strange. Why not just wash new stuff separately a couple of times? I do this, and I've never had a problem with bleeding colors.

Is it possible to remove change and other stuff from pockets? And how about buying one or two of those large zippered mesh bags and putting socks in there?

I do the same thing. Or a cup of regular table salt dissolved in a bucket of cold water and the item placed in it to soak overnight is very good for setting strong bleedable colors. If I still have my doubts that a red t shirt will bleed it goes in with other red things or it gets tossed in the washer with black items. Problem solved and no money spent on another laundry 'helper.'

Mine (think it's an LG, don't see very much of it) does. 4 x 6 inch hinged door at bottom left front of machine, open door, unscrew trap, pull out, clean out, screw back in, close door, 2 minutes tops.

Jerry

FWIW: I've used a Whirlpool Duet for over 6 years now with no problem. My wife is always leaving stuff in her pockets.

od

Kudos to LG-- [look next time you walk buy in case we're crediting the wrong company]

At least they made an allowance for it. I still can't see where things get past the drum.

Jim

Why cant the lazy "washer loader" CHECK THE POCKETS before adding clothes to the machine ?

If not, they can keep repeating the 8?step process..maybe look at it like the NASCAR "Pit CREW" challenge:

Get the tools ready, Set a timer, and GO !! After 20-30 reps, their "time" should get right down there

That sounds like a person who has someone else doing the laundry.

Why don't you check your pockets before you throw your stuff in the hamper ;-)

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

a-ha ha ha!

Sounds to me like you should go through your pockets before you put your wash into the machine, and you wouldn't have all that stuff in there. Washing machines were never intended to wash money.

Steve

For the same reason I don't check the oil in my car before starting my lawnmower. IT'S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PERSON WHO PUTS THE CLOTHES IN THE WASHER TO CHECK THE POCKETS. PERIOD.

What's a hamper?

Steve

So you expect your wife to rummage through your dirty clothes checking the pockets because you won't do it before you take them off. Since that means you have to take the machine apart and fix it, I can understand why she throws a hand full of change in there now and then, just to piss you off

I know my wife does. She's been doing crap like that since we met.

I don't know why, but I keep her.

od

My wife and I have fought for years over this. In my single life, I have ruined more than one good shirt and pair of slacks by washing with a ball point pen.

We both do the laundry at my house. That is the stuff in the dirty clothes basket, as well as clothes left lying around here and there. So, as a courtesy, I remove things like belts, cell phones, name badges, hard IDs (badges, bars, and metal name tags) and whatever is in the pockets. If I really wanted to be a jerk, all I'd have to do is leave a ball point or two in my pocket so she could go shopping.

You're not going to win this one. I think it is the responsibility of the person who puts the wash in the washer to check for foreign objects, just as it is the responsibility of whoever starts the lawnmower to check the oil. I'm not going to change my mind.

If it helps you at all, my wife agrees with you. At times I hand her things that would have been destroyed by washings or damaged other things in the wash, and walk away, the superior being.

Works for me.

Steve ;-)

On 5/19/2009 5:29 PM SteveB spake thus:

Yeah, that's what Swiss banks are for.